Working Models of Attachment and Daily Social Interactions

8/3/2019 Working Models of Attachment and Daily Social Interactions

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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Copyright 1997 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.1997, Vol. 73, No. 6, 1409 -t42 3 0022-3514/97/$3.00

Working Models o f Attachment and Dai ly Socia l Interact ionsPaula R. PietromonacoUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherst Lisa Feldman BarrettBoston College

This study tested whether working models of attachment guide how people construe and respond tosocial interactions by examining immediate regponses to a range of everyday interactions and tospecific attachment-relevant nteractions. Patterns for immediate reports were compared with thosefor more memory-based, global reports. Secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing participantsprovided immediate reports after their social interactions for 1 week and completed retrospectivequestionnaires.Attachmentdifferences were accentuated n attachment-relevant,high-conflict nterac-tions. Preoccupied participants responded more favorably after conflict han did secure or dismissing-avoidant participants. Immediateand retrospective patterns diverged n important ways. How workingmodels contribute to perceptions may depend on the fit between attachment goals and the situationand on the extent of memory-based processing.

Some people typically experience warm, smooth interactionswith others and readily establish close, fulfil ling relationships,whereas other people experience difficulties with these interper-sonal tasks. Attachment theory (e.g., Bowlby, 1969), as appliedto adult relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Shaver, Hazan, &Bradshaw, 1988), provides a framework for understanding suchindividu al differences in inte rpersonal experiences. According toadult attachment theorists (e.g., Collins & Read, 1994; Hazan &Shaver, 1987), people develop cognitive representations, or in-ternal working models, that consist of generalized expectations,beliefs, and goals abou t the self, others, and the relation betweenthe two. These working models are thought to guide how peopleperceive, interpret, and respond to their social interactions.

Adults who hold qualitatively different working model s differin their global, retrospective perceptions of interpersonal experi-ences (e.g., Camelley, Pietromonaco, & Jaffe, 1994; Collins &Read, 1990; Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Kirkpatrick & Davis,1994), emotional experiences (e.g., Bartholomew & Horowitz,1991; Hazan & Shaver, 1987), and themselves and others (e.g.,Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Collins & Read, 1990). Theseretrospective studies suggest that people who hold differentworking models differ in their general theories about themselves,

This research was supported in part by a Universityof MassachusettsFaculty Research Grant. We thank Niall Bolger for providing statisticaladvice. We also thank David Kenny, Eva Klohnen, Jean-Philippe Lau-renceau, and Lucy Robin for helpful comments on a previous versionof this article. We are grateful to Stephen Chang, Kristin Fletcher, BethHelstem, Deborah Hoffman, Julie Liebman, Tanie Miller, Elizabeth Pe-terson, and Brooks Thompson for assistance with data collection andcoding.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to PaulaR. Pietromonaco, Department of Psychology, Tobin Hall, Box 37710,Universityof Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-7710, or toLisa Feldman Barrett, Department of Psychology, 427 McGuinn Build-ing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02167. Electronicmail may be sent via the Internet to [email protected] [email protected].

others, and relationships, but little is known about how workingmodels contribute to perceptions and behavior on an interaction-by-inte ractio n basis: In the present research, we investigated thelink between working models and immediate perceptions ofeveryday social interactions and examined some conditions (i.e.,type of situation or relationship) that might affect the nature ofthis link.

Attachment Theory and ResearchAdult attachment theory (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Shaver et

al., 1988) is an extension of Bowlby's (1969) theory of thebonds between infant s and their caregivers. Bowlby ( 1969) pro-posed an innate, attachment -behaviora l system that leads indi-viduals to moni tor whether an attachment figure is available andresponsive. The fundamental goal of the attachment system isto achieve felt security (Sroufe & Waters, 1977). In the interestof achieving this goal, children are thought to use their day-to-day experiences to develop internal working models about theavailability and responsivity of their attachment figures andabout their own worth in the eyes of their attachment figures(Bowlby, 1973). These working models are hypothesized toinclude expectations, beliefs, and goals that ( a) allow individu-als to predict and plan for a range of future outcomes and (b)direct their thoughts, feelings, and behavior in interpersonalinteractions.

Similarly, adults are assumed to hold working models thatmay be based, in part, on those developed earlier in life but thatalso incorporate experiences in later significant relationship s(e.g., Carnelley et al., 1994; Hazan & Shaver, 1987). As theydo in childhood, these working models are thought to shapehow adults interpret and respond to their social interactions.Consist ent with this idea, the literature on adult attachment indi-cates that people who differ in how they describe their attach-ment style (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Hazan & Shaver,1987), and who presumably differ in the quality of their workingmodels, also differ in their global perceptions of their interper-sonal experiences, themselves, and others. People who evidence

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141 0 P IE T R O M O N A CO A N D FE L D M A N B A R R E T Ta s e c u r e a t t a c hm e n t s t y l e ge ne r a l l y ho l d op t i m i s t i c v i e w s o f t he i rr e l a t i ons h i p s , r e po r t i ng g r e a t e r s a t i s f a c t i on a nd a d j u s t m e n t i nt he i r r om a n t i c r e l a t i ons h i p s ( C a r ne l l e y e t a l . , 1994 ; C o l l i n s &R e a d , 1990 ; K i r kpa t r i c k & D a v i s , 1994 ; S i m ps on , 1990 ) , a nde v i de nc e pos i t i ve v i e w s o f t he m s e l ve s a nd o t he r s ( B a r t ho l o -m e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ; C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1990 ; H a z a n & Sha ve r ,1987 ) . O ve r a l l , s e c u r e i nd i v i dua l s a ppe a r t o be c om f o r t a b l ew i t h bo t h i n t i m a c y a nd i nde pe nde nc e a nd s e e k a ba l a nc e be -t w e e n t he tw o ( B a r t ho l om e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ) .

P e o p l e w h o e v i d e n c e a p r e o c c u p i e d ( a n x i o u s - a m b i v a l e n t )a t t a c hm e n t s t y l e e xp r e s s a s t r ong d e s i r e f o r in t i m a c y ( C o l l i n s &R e a d , 1990 ; Fe e ne y & N o l l e r, 1990 ; H a z a n & Sha ve r , 1987 )a nd a r e n o t a s s a t i s f i e d w i t h t he i r r e l a t i ons h i p s a s a r e s e c u r ei nd i v i dua l s ( C a r n e l l e y e t a l . , 1994 ; C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1990 ; K i r k -pa t r i c k & D a v i s , 1994 ; S i m ps on , 1990 ) . P r e o c c up i e d pe op l ea l s o r e po r t m or e i n t e ns e f e e l i ngs a nd e m o t i ona l h i ghs a nd l ow si n t he ir r om a n t i c r e l a ti ons h i p s ( C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1990 ; H a z a n &Sha ve r , 1987 ; P i e t r om ona c o & C a r ne l l e y , 1994 ) a nd e v i de nc eg r e a t e r e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i v e n e s s ( B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o w i t z ,199 l ) , a nx i e t y , a nd i m p u l s i ve ne s s ( Sha v e r & B r e nna n , 1992 ) .I n a d d i t i o n , p r e o c c u p i e d p e o p l e e v i d e n c e n e g a t i v e v i e w s o ft h e m s e l v e s (B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o w i t z , 1 9 9 1 ; C o l l in s & R e a d ,1990 ) a n d i nc ons i s t e n t v i e w s o f o t he rs ; a l thoug h t he y a pp e a rpos i t i ve t ow a r d o t he r s be c a us e t he y s how a h i gh l e ve l o f s oc i a -b i l i t y a nd w a r m t h ( B a r t ho l om e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ) , t he y a ls oa r e l e s s l i ke l y t ha n s e c u r e i nd i v i dua l s t o be l i e ve tha t pe o p l eha ve good i n t e n t i ons ( H a z a n & Sha ve r , 1987 ) a nd l e s s pos i t i vei n the i r v i e w s o f hum a n na t u r e ( C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1990 ) . O ve r a l l ,p r e o c c u p i e d p e o p l e s e e k a h i g h l e v e l o f i n t im a c y a n d r e s p o n -s i ve ne s s f r om o t he r s a nd a ppe a r t o va l ue i n t i m a c y ove r t he i ro w n i n d e p en d e n c e .

Pe op l e w ho e v i de nc e a n a vo i da n t a t t a c hm e n t s t y l e a r e l e s sl i ke l y t o s e e k i n t i m a c y a nd t o d i s c l o s e pe r s ona l i n f o r m a t i on( B a r t ho l o m e w & H or o w i t z , 1991 ; Fe e ne y & N o l le r , 1990 ; M i -ku l i nc e r & N a c hs hon , 1991 ) , a r e l e s s s a t i s fi e d in t he i r r om a n t i cr e l a t i ons h i p s ( C a r ne l l e y e t al . , 1994 ; C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1990 ;K i r k p a t r i c k & D a v i s , 1 9 9 4 ; S i m p s o n , 1 9 9 0 ) , a n d a p p e a r to u s ede f e ns i ve s t r a te g i e s t o s up p r e s s t he i r a f f e c ti ve r e a c t ions ( M i ku -l i n c er & O r b a c h , 1 9 9 5 ). S o m e w o r k ( B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o w i t z ,1991 ) ha s d i s t i ngu i s he d be t w e e n d i s m i s s i ng - a vo i da n t s a nd f e a r -f u l - a vo i da n t s . D i s m i s s i ng - a v o i da n t s r e po r t tha t t he y do no t ne e dc l o s e e m o t i ona l r e l a t i ons h i p s , de s i r e a h i gh l e ve l o f i nde pe n -de nc e , a nd e v i de nc e pos i t i ve v i e w s o f t he m s e l ve s a nd ne ga t i vev i e w s o f o t he r s (B a r t ho l om e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ) . A l t houghd i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t a n d s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a ls s h o w s i m i l a rl y h i g hs e l f - e s t e e m , t he o r i s t s ( B a r t ho l om e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ; B ow l -by , 1980 ; C a s s i dy & K ob a k , 1987 ; M a i n , 1991 ) ha ve s ugge s t e dt ha t t he h i gh s e l f - e s t e e m o f d i s m i s s i ng - a v o i da n t s a r i s e s m or ef r om t he i r a b i l i t y to i nh i b i t , de ny , o r i gno r e t he i r ne ga t i ve f e e l-i ngs a bou t t he m s e l ve s t ha n f r om t r ue f e e l i ngs o f s e l f - w or t h . I nc on t r a s t , f e a r f u l - a vo i da n t s r e po r t f e e l i ng unc om f o r t a b l e w i t hc l o s e ne s s bu t , a t t he s a m e t i m e , de s i r e e m o t i ona l l y c l o s e r e l a -t i ons h i p s ; f u r t he r m or e , t he y e v i de nc e ne ga t i ve v i e w s o f t he m -s e l ve s a nd o t he r s ( B a r t ho l om e w & H or o w i t z , 1991 ) .

A l t hough d i s t i nc t pa t t e r n s a r e a s s oc i a t e d w i t h e a c h a t t a c h -m e n t s t y l e , t he s t ud i e s s how i ng t he s e pa t t e r n s a r e l i m i t e d i ns e ve r a l r e s pe c t s . O ne l i m i t a t i on i s t ha t t he m a j o r i t y o f s t ud i e sha ve r e l i e d on i nd i v i du a l s ' g l oba l , r e t r o s pe c t i ve r e po r t s o f t he i r

e xpe r i e nc e s . T hus , i t i s unc l e a r w he t he r d i f f e r e nc e s p r i m a r i l yr e f l e c t m e m o r y - b a s e d , s u m m a r y j u d g m e n t s o f e x p e r i e n c e s o rw he t he r s i m i l a r d i f f e r e nc e s a ls o w o u l d be e v i de n t i n m or e i m m e -d i a t e , le s s m e m or y - b a s e d j udg m e n t s o f s pe c i f i c i n t e r a c ti ons .

A s e c o nd l i m i t a t i on i s t ha t m os t s t ud i e s ha ve no t e xa m i ne dpe r c e p t i ons i n s pe c i f i c i n t e r a c t i on c on t e x t s ( f o r a n e xc e p t i on ,s e e S i m ps on , R ho l e s , & N e l l i ga n , 1992 ) , l e a v i ng ope n t he que s -t i on o f w he t he r w or k i ng m ode l s c on t r i bu t e t o i n t e r pe r s ona l pe r -c e p t i ons i n ge ne r a l ( i . e . , a c r o s s d i f f e r e n t re l a t i ons h i p s a nd c on -t e x t s ) o r w he t he r t he i r e ff e c t s a r e be s t obs e r ve d u nde r s pe c i f i c ,a t t a c hm e n t - r e l e va n t c ond i t i ons . A l t hough a du l t a t t a c hm e n t t he -o r y ( H a z a n & Sha ve r , 1987 ) o r i g i na l l y f oc us e d on a t t a c hm e n tp r oc e s s e s i n r om a n t i c r e l a t i ons h i p s , s ubs e que n t w or k ha s a p -p l i e d t he t he o r y t o a va r i e t y o f o t he r r e l a t i ons h i p s , i nc l ud i ngt hos e w i t h pe e r s ( e . g . , B a r t ho l om e w & H or ow i t z , 1991 ) , c o -w or ke r s ( H a z a n & Sha ve r , 1990 ) , s t r a nge r s ( M i k u l i nc e r &N a c hs hon , 1991 ) , a nd G o d ( K i r kp a t r i c k & Shave r , 1992 ) . E v i -de nc e s ugg e s t i ng tha t w or k i ng m ode l s o f a t t a c hm e n t a r e c lo s e l ya s s oc i a t e d w i t h ge ne r a l i n t e r pe r s ona l c ha r a c t e r i s t i c s s uc h a sw a r m t h a nd s oc i a b i l i t y ( e . g . , B a r t ho l om e w & H o r ow i t z , 1991 ;G r i f f i n & B a r t ho l om e w , 1994 ) s ugge s t s t ha t t he y m i gh t i n f l u -e nc e r e s pons e s a c r os s a b r oa d r a nge o f c on t e x t s a nd r e l a t i on -s h i p s . Y e t, s e ve r a l t he o r i s t s ha ve s ugge s t e d t ha t w or k i ng m od e l sm a y be p a r t i c u l a r l y l i ke l y to be a c t i va t e d unde r s pe c i f ic c ond i -t i ons , s uc h a s t hos e t ha t t h r e a t e n a n a t t a c hm e n t bond ( B ow l by ,1980 ; S i m ps on e t a l . , 1992 ) o r i n i n t e r a c ti ons w i t h c l o s e o t he r sw ho a r e m or e l i ke l y to s e r ve a s a t t ac hm e n t f i gu r es ( A i ns w or t h ,1990 ; H a z a n & Sha ve r, 1994 ) . A t h i r d l i m i t a t i on o f p r e v i ousw or k i s t ha t m os t s t ud i e s ha ve f oc us e d on on l y one a vo i da n tc a t e go r y . T hus , i t i s unc l e a r w he t he r pa t t e r n s f o r a vo i da n t s r e -f l e ct te nde nc i e s t ow a r d d i s m i s s i ng - a vo i da n c e , f e a r f u l - a vo i d -a nc e , o r bo t h .

T h e P r e s e n t S t u d yT h e p r e s e n t s t u d y f o c u s ed o n t h e li n k b e t w e e n w o r k i n g m o d -

e l s o f a t t a c h m e n t a n d i m m e d i a t e p e r c e p t io n s o f e v e r y d a y s o c i a li n t e r a c t i ons . T o c a p t u r e how pe op l e t h i nk a nd f e e l du r i ng t hec ou r s e o f t he i r e ve r yda y l i ve s , w e u s e d a n e ve n t - c on t i nge n t da i l yd i a r y m e t hod t ha t f o l l ow e d t he f o r m a t o f t he R oc he s t e r I n t e r a c -t i on R e c o r d ( R I R ; R e i s & W he e l e r , 1991 ) . I n t h i s p r oc e du r e ,pa r t i c i pa n t s p r ov i de de t a i l e d de s c r i p t i ons o f t he i r t hough t s a ndf e e l i ngs on a b r i e f s t a nda r d i z e d f o r m i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r e a c hs oc i a l in t e r a c t i on oc c u r r i ng w i t h i n a de s i gna t e d pe r i od ( e . g . , 1w e e k ) . T h e R I R p r o c e d u r e h a s s e v e ra l m e t h o d o l o g i ca l ad v a n -t a ge s ( f o r a c om pl e t e d i s c us s i on , s e e R e i s & W he e l e r , 1991 )ove r t he g l oba l , r e t r o s pe c t ive que s t i onna i r e s t ha t ha ve be e n u s e di n m os t a t t a c hm e n t s t ud i e s . T h i s p r oc e du r e a l l ow s r e s e a r c he r st o s a m p l e a b r oa d r a nge o f i n t e r a c t i ons a s t he y oc c u r na t u r a l l ya nd t hus t o e xa m i ne i nd i v i dua l s ' i m m e d i a t e r e s pons e s a c r os sd i f f e r e n t s i t ua t i ons a nd r e l a t i ons h i p s . T he R I R p r oc e du r e a l s om i n i m i z e s t he r e c a l l b i a s e s t ha t c a n a r i s e w he n pe op l e c om pl e t es e l f - r e po r t que s t i onna i r e s a t one po i n t i n t i m e ; e ve n t - c on t i nge n td i a r y r e po r t s r e l y l e s s on m e m or y be c a us e i nd i v i dua l s r e po r tt he i r pe r c e p t i ons i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r a n i n t e r a c t i on oc c u r s a ndne e d no t r e m e m be r t he i r e xpe r i e nc e s ove r t i m e o r a ve r a ge t he i rpe r c e p t i ons a c r os s d i f f e r e n t i n t e r a c t i ons a nd pa r t ne r s . Fu r t he r -m or e , i m m e d i a t e d i a r y r e po r t s p r ov i de d i f f e r e n t , m or e de t a i l e d


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ATTACHMENT AND DAILY INTERACTIONS 1411i n f o r ma t i o n t h a n d o r e t r o s p e c t i v e r e p o r t s . Ne v e r t h e l e s s , i t i si mp o r t a n t t o e x a mi n e r e t r o s p e c t i v e r e p o r t s b e c a u s e t h e y p r o v i d eu s e f u l , c o mp l e m e n t a r y i n f o r ma t i o n ( s e e R e i s & W h e e l e r , 1 99 1 )a b o u t i n d i v i d u a l s ' mo r e m e mo r y - b a s e d , g l o b a l t h e o r ie s o f t h e m-se lves and o the r s .

T h e p r e s e n t s t u d y e x t e n d e d p r e v i o u s wo r k i n s e v e r a l wa y s .F i r s t , we e x a m i n e d t h e n a t u r e o f a t t a c h me n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n b o t hr e t r o s p e c t i v e , me mo r y - b a s e d r e p o r t s a n d i n mo r e i mme d i a t er e p o r t s o f s p e c i f i c e v e r y d a y i n t e ra c t i o n s . T h i s p r o c e d u r e a l l o w e du s t o c o mp a r e , w i t h i n t h e s a me s a mp l e , wh e t h e r t h e p a t t e r n so b t a i n e d f o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e r e p o r t s c o n v e r g e d w i t h t h o s e o b t a i n e df o r i mm e d i a t e r e p o r t s o f s p e c i f ic , e v e r y d a y i n t e ra c t i o n s . S e c o n d ,t h e p r e s e n t wo r k e x a m i n e d t h e n a t u r e o f a t t a c h me n t d i f f e r e n c e sa c r o s s i n t e r a c t i o n s i n g e n e r a l ( i . e . , a c r o s s p a r t n e r s a n d s i t u a -t i o n s ) a n d w i t h i n s o m e s p e c i f i c a t t a c h me n t - r e l e v a n t c o n t e x t s( i . e . , h i g h - c o n f l i c t in t e r a c t i o n s a n d i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h c l o s e p a r t -n e r s ) . T h i r d , we a l s o s o u g h t t o c l a r i f y wh e n d i f f e r e n c e s a rel i n k e d t o f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n c e , d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n c e , o r b o t h , a n dt h u s i n c l u d e d p a r ti c i p a n ts f r o m e a c h o f B a r t h o lo m e w a n d H o r o -wi t z ' s ( 1 9 91 ) f o u r a t t a c h me n t g r o u p s ( i . e . , s e c u r e , p r e o c c u p i e d ,f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t , d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t ) .Retrospective Perceptions

W e i n c l u d e d r e t r o s p e c t iv e me a s u r e s o f e m o t i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e ,v i e ws o f s e l f , a n d v i e ws o f o t h er s . S o me o f t h e s e me a s u r e s w e r ei d e n t i c a l t o t h o s e u s e d i n p r e v i o u s a t t a c h me n t s t u d i e s , b u t wea l s o i n c l u d e d ma n y c o n c e p t u a l l y s i mi l a r me a s u r e s n o t u s e d i np r e v i o u s a t t a c h me n t r e s e a r c h . T h i s s e t o f me a s u r e s a l l o we d u st o a s s e s s w h e t h e r p r e v i o u s f i n d in g s r e p l i c a t e d a c r o s s a w i d er a n g e o f me a s u r e s a n d p r o v i d e d a f i n e r g r a i n e d e x a mi n a t i o n o ft h e l i n k b e t we e n a t t a c h me n t a n d g l o b a l , me m o r y - b a s e d r e p o r t s .Ho we v e r , th e p r i ma r y p u r p o s e o f t h i s c o mp o n e n t w a s t o a l l o wu s t o c o m p a r e , w i t h i n th e s a m e s a mp l e , t h e p a t t e r n s o f f i n d i n g sf o r g l o b a l , r e t r o s p e c t iv e p e r c e p t i o n s w i t h t h o s e f o r i mm e d i a t ep e r c e p t i o n s .Immediate P ercept ions o f Everyday Interac t ions

W e e x a m i n e d i m me d i a t e p e r c e p t i o n s o f e v e r y d a y in t e r a c t i o n si n f o u r d o ma i n s h i g h l i g h t e d i n t h e l i t e r a tu r e : q u a l i t y o f i n t e r p e r -s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s , e mo t i o n a l r e a c t i o n s , v i e ws o f s e l f , a n d v i e wso f o t h e rs . W e e x p e c t e d t h a t a t t a c h me n t d i f f e r e n c e s in i mm e d i a t ep e r c e p t i o n s wo u l d a p p e a r , t o s o me e x t e n t , a c r o s s a l l k i n d s o fe v e r y d a y i n t e r a c t i o n s , b u t t h a t s t r o n g e r d i f f e r e n c e s wo u l de me r g e u n d e r a t t a c h me n t - r e l e v a n t ( i . e . , h i g h - c o n f l i c t i n t e r a c -t i o n s a n d i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h c l o s e o t h e r s ) c o n d i t i o n s . W e ma d es e p a r a t e p r e d i c t i o n s f o r p a t t e r n s a c r o s s a l l i n t er a c t i o n s a n d t h o s ewi t h i n a t t a c h me n t - r e l e v a n t ( i . e . , h i g h - c o n f l i c t i n t e r a c t i o n s a n di n t e r a c t io n s w i t h c l o s e o t h e r s ) c o n t e x t s .All interactions. Ou r p r e d i c t i o n s f o r p a t t e r n s a c r o s s a l l i n -t e r a c t i o n s we r e b a s e d o n p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s, p r i ma r i l y f r o m s t u d -i e s o f g l o b a l , r e t r o s p e c t i v e p e r c e p t i o n s . R e s e a r c h o n t h e l i n kb e t we e n a t t a c h me n t a n d i n t i m a c y a n d s a t i s f a c t i o n in r e l a t i o n -s h i p s l e d u s t o p r e d i c t t h a t ( a ) p r e o c c u p i e d a n d s e c u r e i n d i v i d u -a l s wo u l d p e r c e i v e mo r e i n t i ma c y i n t h e i r in t e r a c t i o n s a n d s e l f -d i s c l o s e mo r e t h a n w o u l d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s , a n dt h a t f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t in d i v i d u a l s wo u l d f a l l in b e t we e n t h e s e

g r o u p s , a n d ( b ) s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a l s wo u l d r e p o r t g r e a t e r s a t is f a c -t i o n f o l l o wi n g t h e i r i n t e ra c t i o n s t h a n w o u l d i n s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a ls .

F o l l o wi n g f r o m t h e l i te r a t u r e o n a t t a c h me n t a n d e m o t i o n ,w e p r e d i c t e d th a t p r e o c c u p i e d p e o p l e w o u l d e x p e r i e n c e m o r ep o s i t i v e a n d mo r e n e g a t i v e e mo t i o n s i n t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n s ,wh e r e a s d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s wo u l d s h o w l e s s p o s i -t i ve a n d n e g a t i v e e mo t i o n s ; s e c u r e a n d f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t i n d i v id u -a l s s h o u l d f a l l i n b e t we e n t h e s e t wo e x t r e me s .

B a r t h o l om e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s ( 1 9 9 1 ) c o n c e p t u a li z a t io n s u g -g e s t s t h a t wo r k i n g mo d e l s d i f f e r i n wh e t h e r v i e ws o f s e l f a r ep o s i t i v e ( i . e . , s e c u r e a n d d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t s t y l e s ) o r n e g a t i v e( i . e . , p r e o c c u p i e d a n d f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t s t y l e s ) a n d w h e t h e rv i e ws o f o t h e rs a r e p o s i t i v e ( i. e . , s e c u r e a n d p r e o c c u p i e d s t y l e s )o r n e g a t i v e ( i .e . , d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t a n d f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n ts t y l e s ) . Ac c o r d i n g l y , we e x p e c t e d s e c u r e a n d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d -a n t p a r t i c i p a n t s t o e v i d e n c e mo r e p o s i t i v e v i e ws o f t h e ms e l v e sa f t e r e v e r y d a y i n t e r a c t i o n s a n d p r e o c c u p i e d a n d f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n ti n d i v i d u a l s t o e v i d e n c e m o r e n e g a t i v e v i e ws o f t h e ms e l v e s . W ea l s o e x p e c t e d s e c u r e a n d p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s t o e v i d e n c emo r e p o s i t i v e v i e ws o f o t h e rs , a n d f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t a n d d i s m i s s -i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s t o e v i d e n c e m o r e n e g a t i v e v i e ws o fo the r s .High-conflict interactions. F o r mo s t p e o p l e , c o n f i i c t u a l i n -t e r a c t i o n s a r e l i k e l y t o p o s e a t h r e a t t o a t t a c h me n t s e c u r i t y ;s u c h i n t e r a c t i o n s d i s r u p t s mo o t h , wa r m r e l a t i o n s a n d r a i s e t h ep o s s i b i l i t y th a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p m a y n o t l a s t . Ne v e r t h e l e s s, c o n -f l i c t u a l i n t e r a c t i o n s a l s o o f f e r a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r g r e a t e r i n t i -ma c y a n d c l o s e n e s s i n a r e l a t i o n s h i p b e c a u s e p a r t n e r s ma y b ef o r c e d t o p a y a t t e n ti o n t o e a c h o t h e r a n d t o b e r e s p o n s i v e ( e . g . ,b y d i s c l o s i n g f e e l i n g s ) . P e o p l e m a y d i f f e r i n t h e i r p e r c e p t i o n s o fc o n f l i c tu a l i n t e r a c ti o n s , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e n a t u r e o f t h e i r wo r k i n gmo d e l s a n d a c c o mp a n y i n g i n t e r p e r s o n a l g o a l s . P r e o c c u p i e d i n -d i v i d u a l s d e s i r e a h i g h l e v e l o f i n t i ma c y a n d r e s p o n s i v e n e s sf r o m o t h e r s a n d a r e o r i e n t e d t o wa r d u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e ms e l v e si n r e l a t i o n t o o t h e r s . De s p i t e t h e d i s c o m f o r t o f c o n f l i c t , p r e o c c u -p i e d p e o p l e m a y r e s p o n d l e s s n e g a t i v e l y t o i n t e r p e r s o n a l c o n f l i c tb e c a u s e s u c h i n t e r a c t i o n s o f f e r t h e m t h e c h a n c e t o e s t a b l i s hg r e a t e r i n t ima c y a n d o b t a i n s o me d e g r e e o f r e s p o n s i v e n e s s f r o mthe i r pa r tne r .

I n c o n t r a s t , s e c u r e a n d d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v id u a l s s h o u l ds h o w s i mi l a r l y n e g a t iv e r e s p o n s e s t o c o n f l i c t u a l i n t e r a ct i o n s ,b u t f o r d i f f e r e n t r e a s o n s . L i k e p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s , s e c u r ei n d i v i d u a l s d e s i r e i n t i ma c y , b u t t h e y a r e n o t e x c e s s i v e l y c o n -c e r n e d a b o u t a c h i e v i n g i t . T h u s , s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a l s ma y r e s p o n dn e g a t i v e l y to c o n f l i c t u a l i n t e r a c ti o n s , wh i c h p r e s e n t a t h r e a t t os e c u r i t y a n d d i s r u p t t h e i r n o r ma l l y s mo o t h i n t e r a c t i o n s . I n c o n -t r a s t t o p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s , d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l ss e e k t o a v o i d i n t i ma c y a n d a r e o r i e n t e d t o wa r d u n d e r s t a n d i n gt h e ms e l v e s a s i n d e p e n d e n t a n d s e l f - r e l i a n t . I n t e r a c t i o n s t h a tr a i s e i s s u e s o f i n t i ma c y o r f o r c e t h e m t o b e r e s p o n s i v e ma y b ep a r t i c u l a r l y a v e r s iv e f o r d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a ls . Ac -c o r d i n g l y , we p r e d i c t e d t h a t , a f t e r h i g h - c o n f l i c t in t e r a c t io n s , p r e -o c c u p i e d p e o p l e wo u l d s h o w mo r e p o s i t i v e ( o r l e s s n e g a t i v e )r e s p o n s e s ( e . g . , p e r c e i v e g r e a t e r i n t i ma c y i n t h e i n t e r a c t i o n ,

m o r e p o s i t i v e e mo t i o n , mo r e e s t e e m f o r t h e ms e l v e s a n d th e i rp a r t n e r s ) t h a n s e c u r e o r d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t p e o p l e ; f u r t h e r-mo r e , w e e x p e c t e d d i s mi s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s t o s h o w t h emo s t n e g a t i v e r e s p o n s e s . F e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t i n d i v id u a l s , wh o


4/15

1412 P I E T R O M O N A C O A N D F E L D M A N B A R R E T Ts h o w a m i x t u r e o f p r e o c c u p a t i o n a n d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n c e , a r el i k el y to s h o w m o d e r a t e r e s p o n s e s t h a t f a l l i n b e t w e e n t h o s e o fp r e o c c u p i e d a n d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d iv i d u a ls .

Interactions with close partners. W e e x p e c t e d t h e p a t t e r nsp r e d i c t e d a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s t o b e a c c e n t u a t e d w i t h c l o s e rp a r t n e r s . F u r t h e r m o r e , c l o s e n e s s m i g h t b e a l e s s re l e v a n t d i m e n -s i o n f o r d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t s , a n d t h u s t h e i r r e s p o n s e s m i g h td i f f e r l e s s a c r o s s i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h c l o s e a n d n o n c l o s e p a r t n e r st h a n f o r i n d i v i d u a l s i n o t h e r a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p s .

M e t h o dParticipants

U n d e r g r a d u a t e s f r o m t h e U n i v e r s it y o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s a t A m h e r s t ( n= 1 , 0 4 7 ) a n d P e n n s y l v a n i a S ta t e Un i v e r s i t y (n = 6 1 5 ) p a r t i c i p a t e d i np r e s c r e e n i n g s e s s i o n s i n w h i c h t h e y c o m p l e t e d s e v e r a l q u e s t i o n n a i r e si n c l u d i n g B a r t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s ( 1 9 9 1 ) m e a s u r e t h a t d e s c r i b e sf o u r a t t a c h m e n t p r o t o t y p e s . P a r t i c i p a n t s w h o q u a l i f i e d f o r t h e s t u d y( 8 2 % o f t h e s a m p l e ) h a d s e l e c te d , o n t h e f o r c e d - c h o i c e p o r t i o n , t h es e c u r e , p r e o c c u p i e d , f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t , o r d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t p r o t o t y p ea n d h a d r a t e d , o n a c o n t i n u o u s s c a l e , th e c h o s e n p r o t o t y p e a s m o r e s e l f -d e s c r i p t i v e t h a n a n y o f t h e o t h e r t h r e e p ro t o t y p e s . ( In a l l , 1 8 % o f t h ep a r t i c i p a n t s d i d n o t q u a l i f y b e c a u s e t h e y h a d s e l e c t e d a n a t t a c h m e n tc a t e g o r y t h a t d i f f e r e d f r o m t h e o n e t h e y h a d r a t e d a s m o s t s e l f - d e s c r i p -t i ve . ) T h e p r o p o r t i o n s i n e a c h c a t e g o r y w e r e 4 8 % s e c u r e , 1 6 % p r e o c c u -p i e d , 2 8 % f e a r f u l - a v o id a n t , a n d 8 % d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t . T o o b t a i nr o u g h l y e q u a l n u m b e r s f r o m e a c h g r o u p , w e o v e r s a m p l e d s t u d e n t s f r o me a c h i n s e c u r e c a t e g o r y . A r e s e a r c h a s s i st a n t , w h o w a s u n a w a r e o f p a r t ic i -p a n t s ' a t t a c h m e n t p r o t o t y p e c h o i c e s , t e l e p h o n e d q u a l i f i e d i n d i v i d u a l sa n d i n v i t e d t h e m t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s t u d y . Of t h e s t u d e n t s wh o c o u l db e c o n t a c t e d ( i . e. , w h o a n s w e r e d t h e p h o n e o r r e s p o n d e d t o a m e s s a g e ) ,a p p r o x i m a t e l y 6 6 % a g r e e d t o p a r t ic i p a te . ~

T h e s e l e c t e d s a m p l e i n c l u d e d 1 0 4 p a r t i ci p a n t s , 5 6 f r o m t h e U n i v e r s it yo f M a s s a c h u s e t ts , a n d 4 8 f r o m P e n n s y l v a n i a S t at e U n i v e rs i ty . T h e t w os u b s a m p l e s w e r e c o m p a r a b l e o n t h e c e n tr a l v a r i a b le s a n d t h e r e f o r e w e r ec o m b i n e d . T h e s e 1 0 4 i n d i v id u a l s c o m p l e t e d t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r es a d m i n i s -t e r e d d u r i n g t h e f i r s t l a b o ra t o ry s e s s i o n a n d w e re i n c l u d e d i n t h e a n a l y s e so f t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e d a t a . Of t h i s s a m p l e , 3 0 w e re s e c u re ( 1 4 m e n , 1 6w o m e n ) , 2 6 w e r e p r e o c c u p i e d (8 m e n , 1 8 w o m e n ) , 2 5 w e r e f e a rf u l -a v o i d a n t ( 1 0 m e n , 1 5 w o m e n ) , a n d 2 3 w e r e d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t ( 1 0m e n , 1 3 w o m e n ) .

O n l y a s u b s e t ( n = 7 0 ) o f t h i s la r g e r s a m p l e w e r e a v a il a b le f o r t h ea n a l y s e s o f t h e i m m e d i a t e d a i l y d i a r y d a t a b e c a u s e ( a ) 1 5 i n d iv i d u a lsd i d n o t c o m p l e t e a ll p h a s e s o f t h e s t u d y ( i . e ., 3 l a b o r a t o r y s e s s i o n s p l u s7 d a y s Of r e c o rd i n g t h e i r d a i l y i n t e r a c t i o n s ) , a n d (b ) 1 9 p a r t i c i p a n t sr e p o r t e d c o m p l e t i n g m o r e t h a n 2 5 % o f t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n r e c o r d s f r o mm e m o ry , t h u s p re s e n t i n g a n u n a c c e p t a b l e r i s k o f r e c a l l b i a s . P a r t i c i p a n t sw h o d r o p p e d o u t o r r e l i e d h e a v il y o n m e m o r y d i d n o t d i f f e r f r o m t h o s er e m a i n i n g o n t h e p r i m a r y m e a s u r e s ( e . g . , a t t a c h m e n t c l a ss i f ic a t io n , s e l f -e s t e e m , a n d e m o t i o n ) . T h e 7 0 i n d i v i d u a l s i n t h e f i n a l s a m p l e f o r t h ed i a r y a n a l y s es i n c l u d e d 21 s e c u r e ( 9 m e n , 1 2 w o m e n ) , 1 7 p r e o c c u p i e d( 6 m e n , 1 1 w o m e n ) , 1 4 f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t ( 6 m e n , 8 w o m e n ) , a n d 1 8d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t (7 m e n , 1 1 w o m e n ) i n d i v id u a l s . A l t h o u g h f e w e rm e n t h a n w o m e n p a r t i c i p a t e d , b o t h g e n d e r s w e r e d i s t r i b u t e d n e a r l ye v e n l y a c r o s s t h e a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p s .

a v o i d a n t , o r d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t ) t h at b e s t d e s c r i b e d h o w t h e y v i e w e dr o m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s an d t h e n r a t e d o n 9 - p o i n t s c a l e s h o w m u c h e a c ho f t h e f o u r p r o t o t y p e s d e s c r i b e d t h e i r v i e w s .Retrospective perceptions. Du r i n g t h e f i r s t l a b o ra t o ry s e s s i o n , wea d m i n i s t e r e d a s e t o f q u e s t i o n n a i r e s t o a s s e s s g l o b a l , r e t ro s p e c t i v ep e r c e p t i o n s .

1 . E m o t i o n a l r e a c t i o n s . P a r t i c i p a n t s c o m p l e t e d t h e Af fe c t I n t e n s i t yM e a s u r e ( A I M ; L a r s e n & D i e n e r , 1 9 8 7 ) , t h e E m o t i o n a l i ty s u b s c a l e f ro mt h e E m o t i o n a l i t y - A c t i v i t y - S o c i a b i l i t y m e a s u r e ( E A S ; B u s s & P l o m i n ,1 9 7 5 ) , a n d m e a s u r e s o f g e n e r a l d i s t re s s , d e n i al o f d i s t r e s s , a n d d e f e n -s i v e n e s s f r o m t h e W e i n b e r g e r A d j u s t m e n t I n v e n t o r y ( W A I ; W e i n b e r g e r &S c h w a r t z , 1 9 9 0 ) . E x a m p l e s o f i t e m s f r o m th e A I M ( a = . 9 1; 4 0 i t e m s )a r e a s f o l l o w s : " W h e n s o m e t h i n g g o o d h a p p e n s , I a m u s u a l l y m u c hm o r e j u b i la n t t h a n o t h e r s " a n d " W h e n I s o l v e a s m a l l p e r s o n a l p r o b l e m ,I f ee l e u p h o r i c . " E x a m p l e s o f e m o t i o n a l i ty i t e m s ( a = . 8 7; 1 2 i t e m s )f r o m t h e E A S a r e " I f r e q u e n t ly g e t d i s t r e s s e d " a n d " I g e t e m o t i o n a l l yu p s e t e a s i l y . "

T h e W A I D i s t r e s s s u b s c a l e ( a = . 9 5; 2 9 i t e m s ) a s s e s s e d a n x ie t y ,d e p r e s s i o n , s e l f - e s t e e m , an d e m o t i o n a l w e l l - b e i n g . I n a d d i t io n , t w o W A Is u b s c a l e s t a p p e d d e f e n s i v e n e s s , w h i c h p r e s u m a b l y s h o u l d b e h i g h e r i ni n d i v id u a l s w h o r e p o r t l e s s e m o t i o n . T h e W A I D e n i a l o f D i s t r e s s s u b -s c a l e i n d i c at e s w h e t h e r p e o p l e d o n o t a d m i t t o n o r m a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e so f d i s t r e s s ( e .g . , " S o m e t h i n g s h a v e h a p p e n e d t h i s y e a r t h a t I f el t u n -h a p p y a b o u t a t t h e t i m e " ; r e v e r s e s c o re d ; a = . 7 7 fo r 1 1 i t e m s ) ; t h eR e p r e s s i v e D e f e n s i v e n e s s s u b s c a l e i n d i c a te s t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h i n d i v id -u a l s d e s c r i b e t h e m s e l v e s a s a l w a y s b e i n g c o n s i d e r a t e o f o t h e r s , r e s p o n s i -b l e , a n d i n c o n t r o l o f t h e ir u n d e s i r a b l e i m p u l s e s ( e . g . , " T h e r e h a v e b e e nt i m e s w h e n I d i d n ' t l e t p e o p l e k n o w a b o u t s o m e t h i n g I d i d w r o n g " ;r e v e r s e s c o re d ; a = . 7 1 fo r 1 1 i t e m s ) . T h e s e m e a s u r e s we re c o n c e p t u a l l ys i m i l a r t o t h o s e u s e d i n p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h b u t t a p p e d a w i d e r r a n g eo f e m o t i o n - r e l a t e d q u a l i t i e s ( e . g . , a f f e c t i n t e n s i t y , d i s t r e s s , a n dd e f e n s i v e n e s s .

2 . V i e w s o f s e l f . P a rt i c ip a n t s c o m p l e t e d a s t a n d a r d m e a s u r e o f s e l f -e s t e e m (R o s e n b e r g , 1 9 65 ; a = . 9 1 fo r 1 0 i t e m s ) a n d m e a s u re s o f s e l f -c o n c e p t c o n fu s i o n (C a m p b e l l , 1 9 9 3; o t = . 9 0 fo r 1 2 i t e m s ) a n d s e l f -k n o w l e d g e (Ka t o & M a rk u s , 1 9 9 3 ; a = . 8 4 fo r 7 i t e m s ) . T h e la t t e r t wom e a s u r e s h a v e n o t b e e n u s e d i n p r e v i o u s a t t a ch m e n t r e s e a r c h a n d w e r ei n c l u d e d t o p r o v i d e a m o r e d e t a i le d p r o f i l e o f t h e s e l f - v i e w s o f i n d i v id u -a l s i n t h e d i f f e r e n t at t a c h m e n t g r o u p s . E x a m p l e s o f s e l f - c o n c e p t c o n f u -s i o n i te m s a r e " M y b e l i e f s ab o u t m y s e l f o f te n c o n f li c t w i t h o n e a n -o t h e r " a n d " I s p e n d a l o t o f t i m e w o n d e r i n g w h a t k i n d o f p e r s o n Ir e a l ly a m . " E x a m p l e s o f s e l f - k n o w l e d g e i t e m s a re " I a l w a y s k n o w w h a tI w a n t " a n d " I k n o w m y w e a k n e s s e s an d s t r en g t h s . "

3 . V i e w s o f o t h er s . P a r ti c i p a n ts c o m p l e t e d s e v e r a l s u b s c al e s ( K a t o &M a rk u s , 1 9 9 3 ) t a p p i n g t h e i r v i e ws o f o t h e r s i n r e l a t i o n t o s e l f , in c l u d i n gd e g r e e o f s e l f - o t h e r d i ff e r e n t ia t i o n ( e . g ., " I a m u n i q u e - - d i f f e r e n t f r o mo t h e r s i n m a n y r e s p e c t s " ; a = . 7 4 fo r 8 i t e m s ) , c o n c e r n w i t h o th e r s( e . g . , " I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o m e t h a t I a m l i k e d b y o t h e r s " ; a = . 8 1 fo r 9i t e m s ) , a n d i m p o r t a n c e o f m a i n t a i n i n g s e l f - o t h e r b o n d s ( e . g ., " W h e nm a k i n g a d e c i s i o n , I f i r s t c o n s i d e r h o w i t w i l l a f f e c t o th e r s b e f o r e c o n s i d -e r i n g h o w i t w i l l a f f ec t m e " ; o~ = . 6 6 f o r 7 i t e m s ) . T h e s e m e a s u r e sd i f f e r e d f r o m t h o s e u s e d i n p r e v i o u s r e t r o s p e c ti v e s t u d ie s b u t f o c u s e do n t h e o re t i c a l l y c e n t r a l a s p e c t s o f v i e ws o f o t h e r s .Immediate perceptions. O v e r a 7 - d a y p e r i o d , p a r t i c ip a n t s c o m p l e t e da v a r i a n t o f t h e R IR (R e i s & W h e e l e r , 1 9 91 ; W h e e l e r & Ne z l e k , 1 9 7 7 )i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r e v e ry i n t e r a c t i o n t h a t l a s t e d fo r 1 0 m i n o r l o n g e r .P a r t i c i p a n t s r a t e d a l l i t e m s o n 5 -p o i n t s c a l e s ; e n d p o i n t s g e n e ra l l y we re

MeasuresRomantic attachment. W e a s s e s s e d r o m a n t i c a t t a c h m e n t u s i n g B a r -

t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s ( 1 9 9 1 ) a t t a c h m e n t p r o t o t y p e m e a s u r e ; i n -s t r u c ti o n s w e r e m o d i f i e d t o f o c u s o n l y o n r o m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s. P a r t i ci -p a n t s f i r s t s e l e c t e d t h e p ro t o t y p e ( i . e . , s e c u re , p r e o c c u p i e d , f e a r fu l -

T h i s p r o p o r t i o n w a s s i m i l a r a c r o s s a t t a c h m e n t c a te g o r i e s , w i t h o n ee x c e p t i o n : O n l y 2 5 % o f p r e o c c u p i e d m e n i n t h e P e n n s y l v a n i a s a m p l ea g r e e d t o p a r t i c ip a t e , i n c o n t r a s t t o 8 8 % f r o m t h e M a s s a c h u s e t t s s a m p l e .T h i s d i f f e r e n c e , w h i c h p r o b a b l y o c c u r r e d r a n d o m l y , a c c o u n t s f o r t h es m a l l e r n u m b e r o f m e n i n t h e p r e o c c u p i e d c a t e g o ry .


5/15

A T T A C H M E N T A N D D A I L Y I N T E R A C T I O N S 1 4 1 3l a b e l e d very little an d a great deal , b u t t h e fe w e x c e p t i o n s a re i n d i c a t e db e lo w. Th e i n t e ra c t io n re c o rd i n c l u d e d i t e ms t h a t a s se s se d t h e fo l l o wi n g :

1 . In terac t ion quali ty . Fo ur s ing le i tems tapped d i fferen t aspects o fi n t e ra c ti o n q u a l i t y : i n t i ma c y (e n d p o i n t s : surface to d e e p ) , se l f-d isc lo-sure , sa t i sfac t ion (endpoin ts : dissatisfied a n d satisfied), a n d d i sa g re e -me n t -c o n f l i c t . (Di sa g re e me n t -c o n f l i c t r a t i n g s we re u se d t o i d e n t i fyh i g h -c o n f l i c t i n t e ra c ti o n s . )

2 . Emo t i o n a l r e a c t i o n s . We a v e ra g e d t h e rat i n g s o n fo u r p o s i t i v e e mo -t ion ad jec t ives ( i .e . , happy , sa t isf ied , en thusias t ic , and exci ted ; c t = .90)and four negat ive emot ion ad jec t ives ( i .e . , sad , d i sappoin ted , angry , andn e rv o u s ; c~ = .9 2 ) t o fo rm t wo c o mp o s i t e e mo t i o n sc o re s . We fo c u se do n t h e se p o s i t iv e a n d n e g a t i v e e mo t i o n a d j e c ti v e s b e c a u se p re v i o u s wo rk(e .g . , Fe l d ma n , 1 9 9 5 ) h a s sh o wn t h a t th e y re p re se n t c e n t ra l d i me n s i o n sof affec t ive experience .3 . Vi e ws o f s e l f . Pa r t i c i p a n t s i n d i c a t e d h o w mu c h t h e y fe l t wo r t h -wh i l e ( e n d p o i n t s : not w or thw hi l e a n d w or thw hi l e ) , c o mp e t e n t ( e n d -p o i n t s : incompetent an d competen t ) , a n d a c c e p t e d b y t h e p a r t n e r ( e n d -p o i n t s : not accep ted by your par tner an d accepted by your par tner);we a v e ra g e d t h e se t h re e ra t i n g s t o fo rm a c o mp o s i t e s c o re (a = .9 4 ) .4 . Vi e ws o f o t h e r s. Pa r t i c i p a n t s ra t e d t h e i r p a r t n e r o n sc a l e s p a ra l l elt o t h o se u se d fo r v i e ws o f s e l f ; th e y i n d i c a t e d h o w m u c h t h e y p e rc e i v e dt h e i r i n t e ra c t i o n p a r t n e r ( s ) t o b e wo r t h wh i l e , c o mp e t e n t , a n d a c c e p t e db y t h e m ( a = .9 5 ) . We a l so i n c l u d e d s i n g le i te ms t o a s se s s p e rc e p ti o n so f h o w mu c h t h e p a r t n e r ( a ) d i s c l o se d p e r so n a l i n fo rma t i o n , (b ) e x -p re s se d p o s i t i v e e mo t i o n , a n d (c ) e x p re s se d n e g a t i v e e mo t i o n .Pa r t i c ip a n t s a l so p ro v i d e d a d d i t i o n a l i n fo rma t i o n a b o u t t h e i n t e ra c t i o n(e .g . , n o . o f p a r t n e r s , a n d g e n d e r o f p a r t n e r s ) a n d re c o rd e d a u n i q u e se tof in i t ia l s fo r each in terac t ion partner .

Final interview. To v e r i fy t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s fo l l o we d a l l i n s t ru c t io n s ,we a sk e d t h e m a b o u t t h e p e rc e n t a g e o f i n t e ra c t i o n s t h a t t h e y d i d n o tre c o rd , t h e p e rc e n t a g e o f i n t e ra c t i o n s re c o rd s t h a t t h e y h a d c o m p l e t e df ro m me mo ry , h o w d i f f i c u lt i t wa s t o r e c o rd t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s , a n d t h ea c c u ra c y o f t h e i r r e p o r t s . Th e e x p e r i me n t e r s t r e s se d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t swo u l d n o t b e p e n a l i z e d i n a n y wa y ( i .e . , t h e y wo u l d s t i ll r e ce i v e c re d i ta n d h a v e a c h a n c e t o wi n a p r i z e fo r p a r t i c i p a t i n g ) i f t h e y h a d n o tfo l l o we d t h e i n s t ru c t i o n s a n d t h a t we we re s i mp l y i n t e re s t e d i n o b t a i n i n ga n a c c u ra t e p i c t u re o f o u r d a t a .

Du ring the f ina l sess ion , part ic ipan ts a l so rev iew ed a l i s t o f the in i t ia l sfo r a l l i n t e ra c t i o n p a r t n e r s a n d i n d i c a t e d t h e i r r e la t i o n sh i p t o t h e m (e .g . ,rom ant ic partner , partner , fr iend , and acqu ain tan ce) and ra ted the overa l lc l o se n e s s o f t h e i r r e la t i o n sh i p wi t h t h e p a r t n e r o n a 7 -p o i n t s c a l e ( e n d -p o i n t s : not at al l close an d very close) .

P r o c e d u r ePa r t i c ip a n t s , p re v i o u s l y s e l e c t e d f ro m e a c h a t t a c h me n t g ro u p , a t t e n d e d

t h re e l a b o ra t o ry s e s s io n s . D u r i n g t h e f i r st s e s s io n , t h e e x p e r i me n t e r e x -p l a i n e d t h a t t h e s t u d y c o n c e rn e d h o w p e o p l e t h i n k a n d fe e l i n t h e i ri n t e ra c ti o n s wi t h o t h e r s i n t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s a n d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s wo u l db e k e e p i n g re c o rd s o f t h e i r in t e ra c t io n s fo r 7 d a y s a s we l l a s c o mp l e t i n gse v e ra l s e t s o f q u e s t i o n n a i re s . To e n c o u ra g e p a r t i c i p a t i o n , t h e e x p e r i -me n t e r e x p l a i n e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s wo u l d re c e i v e e x t ra c re d i t fo r t h e i rc lass p lus t ickets fo r a $50 lo t te ry to be he ld a t the end of the semester .To preserve confiden t ia l i ty , part ic ipan ts se lec ted a code name to uset h ro u g h o u t t h e s t u d y . Du r i n g t h e f i r s t s e s s i o n , p a r t i c i p a n t s c o mp l e t e dt h e s e t o f r e t ro sp e c t iv e q u e s t i o n n a i re s a n d l e a rn e d h o w t o c o mp l e t e t h edai ly in terac t ion records . The experimenter f i rs t defined in terac t ions asa n y e n c o u n t e r wi t h o n e o r mo re p e o p l e i n w h i c h t h e p a r t i c ip a n t s a t t en d e dt o o n e a n o t h e r a n d p o ss i b l y a d j u s t e d t h e i r b e h a v i o r i n r e sp o n se t o o n eanothe r (Reis & Wheeler , 1991 ) and then carefu l ly expla ined and defineda l l i t e ms o n t h e i n t e ra c t io n re c o rd fo rm. A l l p a r t i c i p a n t s a l so re c e iv e dwr i t t e n i n s t ru c ti o n s t o k e e p w i t h t h e m a s t h e y c o mp l e t e d t h e i r i n te ra c t i o nre c o rd s . Th e e x p e r i me n t e r e mp h a s i z e d t h e i mp o r t a n c e o f c o mp l e t i n g a

re c o rd a s so o n a s p o s s i b l e (wi t h i n 1 5 ra i n ) a f t e r e a c h i n t e ra c t i o n , a n do f a n sw e r i n g h o n es tl y . B e fo re b e g i n n i n g t h e 7 -d a y re c o rd i n g p e r i o d ,p a r t i c i p a n t s t o o k h o me t h re e p ra c t i c e re c o rd i n g fo rms a n d c o mp l e t e dt h e m a f t e r t h re e i n t e ra c t io n s .

Du r i n g t h e s e c o n d se s s io n , p a r t i c i p a n t s r e v i e we d t h e i r p ra c t i c e i n te r -a c t i o n re c o rd s a n d re c e i v e d f i n a l in s t ru c t i o n s fo r c o mp l e t i n g 7 d a y s o fi n t e ra c ti o n re c o rd s . Pa r t i c ip a n t s r e t u rn e d t h e i r i n t e ra c ti o n re c o rd s t h re et i me s d u r i n g t h e i r r e c o rd i n g w e e k a n d re c e i v e d e x t ra l o t te ry t i c k e ts fo rre t u rn i n g t h e i r fo rms o n t i me . Th e p u rp o se o f t h i s p ro c e d u re wa s t ore d u c e t h e l i k e l i h o o d th a t p a r t i c ip a n t s wo u l d c o m p l e t e ma n y fo rms f ro mme m o ry a n d a l so t o mo t i v a t e t h e m t o re ma i n i n t h e s tu d y . Th e e x p e r i -me n t e r c a l l e d wi t h i n 2 4 h r a n y p a r t i c i p a n t s wh o d i d n o t r e t u rn t h e i rfo rms o n t i me a n d re q u e s t e d t h a t t h e y re t u rn t h e m. Du r i n g a t h i rdse s s i o n , t h e e x p e r i me n t e r i n t e rv i e we d p a r t i c i p a n t s a b o u t t h e i r e x p e r i e n c ei n t h e s t u d y a n d t h e a c c u ra c y wi t h w h i c h t h e y re c o rd e d t h e i r in t e ra c ti o n s .

R e s u l t sG l o b a l , R e t r o s p e c t i v e P e r c e p t i o n s

T o d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r t h e r e t r o s p e c ti v e p a t te r n s i n o u r s a m p l ew e r e s i m i l a r to t h o s e f o u n d i n p r e v i o u s w o r k , w e p e r f o r m e da n a l y s e s o f v a r i a n c e o n e a c h r e t r o s p e c ti v e m e a s u r e , w i t h a t t a c h -m e n t p r o t o t y p e c h o i c e a s t h e g r o u p i n g f a c t o r . T a b l e 1 s h o w s t h em e a n s f o r e a c h m e a s u r e b y a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p . A s e x p e c t e d ,p r e o c c u p i e d a n d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s s h o w e d o p p o -s i t e e m o t i o n a l p a t t er n s . P r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s r e p o r t e d m o r ea f f e c t i n t e n s i t y a n d e m o t i o n a l i t y t h a n t h o s e i n e a c h o f t h e o t h e rt h r e e g r o u p s , w h e r e a s d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d iv i d u a l s re p o r t e dl e s s a f f e c t i n t e n s i t y a n d e m o t i o n a l i t y t h a n t h o s e i n t h e o t h e rt h r e e g r o u p s . P r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s a ls o r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l yh i g h e r l e v e ls o f d i s t r e s s t h a n d i d i n d i v i d u a l s i n a n y o f t h e o t h e rg r o u p s ; f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a ls r e p o r t e d s i g n i fi c a n tl y m o r ed i s t re s s t h a n d i d s e c u r e o r d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u al s .

W e w o u l d e x p e c t l e s s e m o t i o n a l i t y t o b e a c c o m p a n i e d b yg r e a t e r d e f e n s i v e n e s s. A c c o r d i n g l y , d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v id -u a l s e v i d e n c e d g r e a t e r d e n i a l o f d i s t r e s s t h a n d i d p r e o c c u p i e di n d i v i d u a l s o r f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s ; h o w e v e r , t h e y d i dn o t d i f f e r f r o m s e c u r e i n d i v i d u al s . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e a t t a c h m e n tg r o u p s d i d n o t d i f f e r r e l ia b l y o n t h e R e p r e s s i v e D e f e n s i v e n e s ss u b s c a l e o f t h e W A I .

C o n s i s t e n t w i th p r e v i o u s w o r k ( e . g ., B a r t h o l o m e w & H o r o -w i t z , 1 9 9 1 ; C o l l i n s & R e a d , 1 9 9 0 ) , p r e o c c u p i e d a n d f e a r f u l -a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s e v i d e n c e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o w e r s e l f - e s t e e mt h a n d i d s e c u r e a n d d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a ls , a n d g r e a t e rs e l f - c o n c e p t c o n f u s i o n t h a n d i d s e c u r e i n d i v id u a l s. F u r t h e r m o r e ,p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s d i s p l a y e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y l e s s s e l f - k n o w l -e d g e t h a n d i d i n d i v i d u a ls i n a n y o f t h e o t h e r a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p s .

A n a l y s e s o f t h e r e t ro s p e c t iv e m e a s u r e s o f v i e w s o f o t h e rsi n d i c a t e d t h a t p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s s h o w e d l e s s d i ff e r e n t i a -t i o n b e t w e e n t h e m s e l v e s a n d o t h e r s t h a n d i d s e c u r e , d i s m i s s i n g -a v o i d a n t , o r f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s . T h i s f i n d i n g f i t s w i t hp r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l s ' d e s i r e t o m e r g e w i t h o t h e r s ( c f . H a -z a n & S h a v e r, 1 9 8 7 ) . T h e a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p s d i d n o t d i f fe rs i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c o n c e r n f o r o t h e r s o r m a i n t a i n i n g s e l f - o t h e rb o n d s , a l t h o u g h t h e p r e o c c u p i e d g r o u p s c o r e d n o n s i g n i f i c a n t lyh i g h e r o n b o t h s u b s c a l e s . T h u s , t h e s e m e a s u r e s o f v i e w s o fo t h e r s d i d n o t r e v e a l t he p a t t e rn s t h a t w o u l d b e e x p e c t e d f r o mB a r t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s ( 1 9 91 ) m o d e l .

T h e s e p a t t e r n s r e v e a l d i s ti n c t p r o f il e s f o r e a c h a t t a c h m e n t


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1414 PIETROMONACO AND FELDMAN BARRETTTable 1M e a n S c o r e s o n Re t r o s p e c t i v e Q u e s t io n n a i r e s b y A t t a c h m e n t C a t e g o r y

Attachment categoryFearful- Dismissing-Measure Secure avoi dant Preoccupie d avoidant F dfs

Emotional reactions anddefensivenessAffect intensity 3.72a 3.65a 4.00b ' 3.38c 6.95** 3, 97Emotionality 18.34a 22.16a 27.80b 17.04c 7.96*** 3, 98Distress 62.86, 79.92b 90,92c 68.96a 10.72"** 3, 99Denial of distress 24.93a 22.56b 20.15b 25.30, 4.26* 3, 99Repressive-defensiveness 25.93a 22.96, 26.04a 26.35~ 1.36 3, 99Views of selfSelf-esteem 24.63a 20.64b 18.12b 23. 43a 8.15"** 3, 100Self-concept confusion 28.47, 36.92b 38.23c 32.91~b 6.86** 3, 100Self-knowledge 7.12a 6.89a 6.12b 7.20~ 3.64* 3, 97Views of othersSelf-other differentiation 6.35, 6.07~ 5.31b 6.46a 4.29* 3, 97Concern with others 5.65a 5.81, 6.39a 5.71, 1.57 3, 96Maintaining self-other bonds 6.07a 6.08a 6.51~ 6.03~ 0.87 3, 95Note . Participants were included in the analysis only if they had complete data for the scale; sample sizesvaried from 99 to 104. Within rows, Newman-Keuls contrasts between means with different subscriptsdiffered significantly,p < .05.*p < .01. **p < .00l. ***p < .0001.

group and are generally consistent with findings from previousresearch. Preoccupied individual s evidenced more negative, un-certain self-views and difficulty differentiating between them-selves and others, greater emotiona lity and distress, and lowdefensiveness. Dismissing-avoidant individuals evidenced pat-terns similar to those of secure individuals (e.g., high self-es-teem, low distress, and high defensiveness), except that theyshowed distinctly less intense emotions. Fearful-avoidant indi-viduals sometimes showed patterns similar to those of preoccu-pied individuals (e.g., low self-esteem, low defensiveness, andhigh distress), but sometimes showed more moderate patterns(e.g., for self-knowledge, self-other differentiation, and affectintensity) that fell in between those of preoccupied and dismiss-ing-avoidant ndividuals. We next examined whether similar pat-terns emerged when individuals reported on their immediateperceptions of everyday interactions.I m m e d i a t e P e r c e p t i o n s

Overall, the attachment groups did not differ reliably in thequantity or type of interactions. Individuals who held differentworking models of a ttachment did not differ significantly in thenumber of (a) interactions across all partners, F(3, 66) = 0.33,n s ; (b) unique interaction partners, F(3, 66) = 0.30, n s ; (c )interactions with best friends, roommates, friends, and parents,all Fs < 1, n s ; and (d) interactions with romantic partners,F(3, 66) = 1.87, p < .15. The groups also did not differsignificantly in the number of interactions with acquaintances,F ( 3, 66) = 2.61, p < . 10, although dismissing-avo idant ndivid-uals (M = 4.28) reported nonsignificantly more interactionswith acquaintances than did preoccupied (M = 1.35), fearful-avoidant (M = 2.14), or secure (M = 2.24) individuals.

Ana lys i s s t ra tegy . Analysis of daily diary records presentssome statistical challenges. Some researchers (e.g., Nezlek,1993; Nezlek, Imbrie, & Shean, 1994) have analyzed diary datausing individuals as the unit of analysis; they have averageddata across all interactions for one individual and then analyzedthe aggregated scores across individuals. This strategy is lim-ited, however, because individuals often vary considerably intheir level of social activity, and thus some individuals willcomplete many more interact ion records than others. As a result,individuals may differ in the stability of their ratings, in thevariance of their ratings, or both. In both cases, variation acrossindividuals may obscure or exaggerate differences betweengroups and thus produce findings that reflect statistical artifactsrather than the true nature of the data.

We therefore chose a weighted least squares estimation ap-proach (Kenny & Bolger, 1996; Kenny, Kashy, & Bolger, 1997;Schwartz, Warren, & Pickering, 1994) to evaluate the link be-tween attachment style and immediate perceptions in each of thefour domains (e.g., views of self and emotions). The analysesincluded lower level data (i.e., interaction record ratings onvariables such as intimacy and self-disclosure) nested within abetween-subjects, upper level unit (i.e., attachment styles), butalso specified subjects as a factor (Kenny & Bolger, 1996;Kenny et al., 1997). Our analyses focused on upper level, be-tween-subjects relationships (e.g., Do preoccupied versus dis-missi ng-av oidan t individuals differ in how much they self-dis-close, on average, during their interactions?). Thus, our analysescompared, for example, preoccupied individuals with those ineach of the other attachment groups on the mean levels of theirinteraction record variables, while taking into account variationboth across subjects and between groups (Kenny & Bolger,1996; Kenny et al., 1997).


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ATTACHMENT AND DAILY INTERACTIONS 1415To examine whether individual s who held differen t attachment

styles differed in the mean levels across interactions, we per-formed multilevel regression analyses (Ke nny & Bolger, 1996;Kenny et al., 1997) separately for each interaction record vari-able. These regressions included three dummy codes for attach-ment group and a subject variable that identified each indiv idualin the sample. To test for differences between secure individua lsversus individuals in the other three groups, we performed theregressions with three dummy variables for attachment, whichallowed us to compare the regression estimates of the securegroup with those for each of the other groups. To test for differ-ences among the insecure groups, we repeated the regressionanalyses but included different dummy variables for attachment,which allowed us to compare the regression estimates (a) ofthe preoccupied group with those of each of the other groupsor (b ) of the fearful-avoidant group with those of each of theother groups. Thus, the mean levels of the interaction variablesremained the same in all of the above regressions, but the alter-nate dummy codes allowed us to compare different pairs ofattachment groups.The effect of subjects was significant in nearly all analyses,which indicated that the regression estimate for each interactionrecord index varied significantly across individuals indepen-dently of their attachment classification. We then performed asecond set of regression analyses that included only the attach-ment dummy variables as predictors. The mean square termsfrom these analyses reflected all of the variation in the regressionestimates that arose from both individua ls and attachment style.To separate variability resulting from subjects independent ofattachment style and variability resulting from attachment stylealone, we calculated the F tests using the mean square termfrom the second regression as the numerator and the mean squareterm for the subject variable from the first regression as thedenominator (Kenny & Bolger, 1996; Kenny et al., 1997) . Thus,these F values tested the mean level differences between attach-ment groups for each interaction record variable, while takinginto account individual variation. (In the isolated instances inwhich the subject variable was not significant, the F tests werecalculated using the mean square term from the second set ofanalyses that included only the dummy variables for attach-ment.) In the sections below, we present the results of analyses(a) across all interactions, (b) for high-conflict interactions,and ( c) for interactions with close others. 2 All comparisons be-tween regression estimates were assessed at the .05 level ofsignificance.

Al l in t e rac t ions . Table 2 shows that indiv iduals who helddifferent working models of attachment differed somewhat intheir responses across all kinds of interactions. Some of thesedifferences were consistent with our predictions, but others werenot. Analyses of the interaction quality variables were consi stentwith our predictions. Preoccupied individuals reported signifi-cantly more intimacy than did dismissing-avoidant individuals,F( 1, 66) = 4.38, p < .05, and nonsigni ficant ly more than didsecure individuals, F( 1, 66) = 3.69, p < .10. Fearful-avoidantindividua ls fell in between the secure and preoccupied groupsand reported nonsignificantly more int imacy than did dismiss-ing-avoidan t individuals, F( 1, 66) = 3.05, p < .10. In addition,preoccupied individuals reported more self-disclosure than did

Table 2M e a n L e v e l s f o r I n t e r a c t i o n Re c o r d Va r i a b le s Ac r o s s A l lI n t e r a c t io n s b y A t t a c h m e n t C a t e g o r y

Attachment categoryFearful- Dismissing-Measure Secure avoidant Preoccupied avoidant

Interaction qualityIntimacy 2.68,b 3. 06 ~ 3.13, 2.62bSelf-disclosure 3.04,b 3. 02 ~ 3.27, 2.87bSatisfaction 3.61,b 3.86, 3.60,b 3.40bEmotional reactionsPositive emotion 2. 97 ,b 3.19, 2.84ab 2.82bNegativeemotion 1.39a 1.62,b 1.57,b 1.66bViews of selfSelf-esteem 4.60, 4.40ab 4.22b 4.40abViews of othersEsteem forpartners 4.52, 4.44, 4.29~ 4.40aPartners'disclosure 3.14a 3.23, 3.45, 3.12aPartners' positiveemotion 3.47,b 3.67, 3.56ab 3.32bPartners'negativeemotion 1.90, 1.83, 2.00a 2.09,

Note. Analyseswere based on 2,272 observations rom 70 participants,dfs = 1, 66. Means with different subscripts differed significantly,p


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141 6 PIETROMONACO AND FELDM AN BARRETTdid secure ind iv idua ls . The means for fear fu l -avoidant and d is -miss ing-avoidant ind iv idua ls , however , fe l l in be tween those forthe preoccupied and secure groups and d id no t d i f fe r s ign i f i -can t ly f rom them. Thus , the pa t tems for fear fu l -avoidant (whoare assumed to have low se l f -es teem) and d ismiss ing-avoidantind iv idua ls (who are assumed to have h igh se l f -es teem) weren o t c o n s i s t e n t w i t h B a r t h o l o m e w a n d H o r o w i t z ' s m o d e l .Par t ic ipants ' v iews of o thers d id no t fo l low the pa t te rn ex-pec ted f rom Bar tholomew and Horowi tz ' s ( 1991 ) model . Preoc-cupied and secure ind iv idua ls d id no t ev idence the expec tedpos i t ive v iews of the i r in te rac t ion par tners ; in fac t , p reoccup iedindiv idua ls showed a nons igni f ican t tendency to repor t l ess es -teem for the i r par tners than d id secure ind iv idua ls , F( 1 , 66) =2 .79 , p < . 10 ; the means for the fear fu l -avoid ant and d ismiss ing-avoidant groups fe l l in be tween those for the preoccupied andsecure groups and d id no t d i f fe r s ign i fican t ly f rom them. At tach-ment was not assoc ia ted wi th responses on any o ther var iab lesassess ing v iews o f partners ( i . e . , the par tner ' s d i sc losures , ande x p r e s s i o n o f p o s i ti v e a n d n e g a t i ve e m o t i o n ) , w i t h o n e e x c e p -t ion . Unexpec ted ly , fear fu l -avoidant ind iv idua ls repor ted tha tthe i r par tners expressed more pos i t ive emot ion than d id d ismiss -ing- avo idan t individu als, F( 1, 66) = 4.32, p < .05.

High-confl ict interactions. To tes t the hypotheses for h igh-conf l ic t in te rac t ions , we per formed a se r ies of regress ions onthe subse t o f in te rac t ions tha t ind iv idua ls ra ted as h igh in conf l ic t( i . e ., ra tings of 4- 5 on the 5-poin t sca le ) . Analyses fo l lowedthe same format as those across a l l in te rac t ions and were basedon 168 in te rac t ions f rom 54 par t ic ipants . (A to ta l o f 16 par t ic i-pants could not be inc luded because they d id no t ra te any in te r -ac t ions as grea te r than 3 in conf l ic t . ) Note tha t the number ofin te rac t ions ra ted as h igh in conf l ic t d id no t d i f fe r by a t tachments ty le, F( 3 , 66) = 0 .41 , n s; in addit ion, the overall rat ings ofconf l ic t ac ross a l l in te rac t ions were s imi la r (Ms = 1 .64 , 1 .68 ,1 .66 , and 1 .65 , for secure , fear fu l -avoidant , p reoccupied , anddismiss ing-avoidant ind iv idua ls , respec t ive ly) .

F igure 1 shows tha t p reoccupied ind iv idua ls d i f fe red mark-edly f rom dismiss ing-avoidant and secure ind iv idua ls in the i rra t ings of the qua l i ty of the i r h igh-conf l ic t in te rac t ions . As pre-d ic ted , p reoccupied ind iv idua ls repor ted grea te r in t imacy thandid d ismiss ing-av oidant , F(1 , 50) = 15 .80 , p < . 001 , and se-cure, F( 1, 50) = 8.32, p < .01, individua ls. Preoc cup ied indi-v idua ls a l so repor ted grea te r se l f -d isc losure than d id d ismiss ing-avoidant , F( I , 50) = 6 .22 , p < . 03, secure , F(1 , 50) = 5 .46 ,p < .03, and fearful-a void ant, F( 1, 50) = 5.35, p < .03, individ-ua ls . These pa t te rns a re s imi la r to those across a l l in te rac t ions ,bu t appear to be more pronounced . In addi t ion , p reoccupiedindiv idua ls a l so repor ted grea te r sa t i s fac t ion a f te r h igh conf l ic tthan d id d ismiss ing-a voidant , F(1 , 50) = 11 .38 , p < . 001,secure , F(1 , 5 0) = 5 .28 , p < . 03, and fear fu l -avoidant , F( 1 ,50) = 3.71, p < .10, individuals . In som e respects , fearful-avoidant ind iv idua ls showed pa t te rns tha t were s imi la r to thoseof preoccupied ind iv idua ls ; they repor ted s ign i f ican t ly grea te rin t imacy than d id d ismiss ing-avoid ant ind iv idua ls , F( 1, 50) =9 .43 , p < . 01, and nons igni f ican t ly grea te r in t imacy than d idsecur e individuals, F( 1, 50) = 3.81, p < .10. In other respects,fear fu l -avoidant ind iv idua ls d i f fe red f rom preoccupied ind iv idu-a ls ; they repor ted less se l f -d isc losure and less sa t i s fac t ion inthese h igh-conf l ic t in te rac t ions . Dism iss ing-av oidant ind iv idua ls

Figure 1. Mean lev els for ratings of the interaction quality variablesfor high-con flict interactions. Means with different subscripts differedsignificantly, p < .05. S = secure; F = fearful-avoidant; P = preoc cu-pied; D = dismissing-avoidant.

d id no t d i f fe r f rom secure ind iv idua ls in the i r ra t ings of thequal i ty of the i r h igh-conf ic t in te rac t ions .

F igure 2 shows tha t emot iona l responses a f te r h igh-conf l ic tin te rac t ions var ied as a func t ion of a t tachment . As expec ted ,preoccupied ind iv idua ls repor ted s ign i f ican t ly more pos i t iveemot io n than d id d ismiss in g-avoida nt ind iv idua ls , F( 1 , 50) =7 .16 , p < . 03, and marg ina l ly more than d id secure ind iv idua ls ,F( 1 , 50) = 3 .25 , p < . 10 . In addi t ion , d i smiss ing-avoidan t


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ATTACHMENT AND DAILY INTERACTIONS 14 17

Figure 2. Mean levels for ratings of positive and negative emotionfor high-conflict interactions. Means with different subscripts differedsignificantly, p < .05. S = secure; F = fearful-avoidant; P = preoccu-pied; D = dismissing-avoidant.

more d i sc losure f rom the i r par tners and more express ion ofpos i t ive emot ion b y the i r par tners than d id d i smiss ing-avoidan t ,F( 1 , 5 0) = 6 .22 , p < .03 (par tners ' d i sc losure) , and F(1 ,50) = 7 .18 , p < .007 (par tners ' pos i tive emot io n) , or secureindividua ls, F( 1, 50) = 8.24, p < .01 (partn ers ' dis closu re) ,and F( 1, 50) = 10.53, p < .001 (partner s ' posi t ive em otio n).Fear fu l -avoidant indiv idual s fe l l in be tween these two ext remes .The four groups d id no t d i f fe r s igni fi cant ly in the i r percept ionsof how much par tners expressed negat ive emot ion: Ms = 3 .33(secure) , 3 .25 ( fear fu l ) , 3 .06 (preoccupie d) , and 3 .54 (d is -miss ing) . Thus , fo l lowing h igh-conf l i c t in te rac t ions , preoccu-pied indiv idual s showed more pos i t ive v iews o f the i r par tners ,but they did not show this pat tern across al l interact ions.

Overal l , the f indings for high-confl ict interact ions supportedthe predic t ions . Preoccupied indiv idual s responded m ore favor -ably to high-confl ict interact ions than did ei ther secure or dis-miss ing-avoidant indiv idual s , and fear fu l -avoidant indiv idual susua l ly fe l l in be tween preoccupied and d i smiss ing-avoidantgroups . Al though the responses of d i smiss ing -avoidant indiv idu-als general ly paral leled those of secure part icipants, they didrepor t more negat ive emot ion and m argina l ly lower se l f -es teem.

A compar i son of the f indings across a l l in te rac t ions , whichpr imar i ly re f l ec t lower conf l i c t in te rac t ions (over 90% of a l linteract ions were rated as 3 or less in confl ict) , and those forthe smal le r subse t of h igh-conf l i c t in te rac t ions sugges t s tha tat tachment pat terns varied as a funct ion of level of confl ict .We di rec t ly t es ted th i s propos i t ion by extending the ana lys i sprocedure descr ibed above to inc lude the fu l l r ange of conf l i c trat ings ( i .e . , f rom 1 to 5) as a lower level predictor , at tachment

indiv idual s evidenced l ess pos i tive emot ion than d id fear fu l-avoidant indiv iduals , F( 1 , 50) = 4 .10 , p < .05, and more nega-t ive emot ion than d id secure indiv idual s , F( 1 , 50) = 5 .37 , p< .03. Thus, cons istent with the predict io ns for high-co nfl ictin te rac tions , preoccupied indiv idual s expressed the mos t pos i -t ive emot ion , whereas d i smiss ing-av oidant indiv idual s expressedthe l eas t pos it ive and mos t negat ive emot ion .

After high-confl ict interact ions, views o f self did not differ sig-nif icant ly by at tachment: Ms = 3.94 (secure) , 3.58 (fearful) , 3.73(preoccupied), and 3.44 (dismissing). Nevertheless, dismissing-avoidant individuals showed marginal ly lower self-esteem than didsecure individuals, F( l , 5 0) = 3.12, p < .10, which is consistentwith the predict ion that they would resp ond most negat ively tointerpersonal confl ict . Interestingly, preoccupied individuals did notshow lower self-esteem after high confl ict , although they did showthe lowest self-esteem across all interactions.

Figure 3 shows the m eans for the var iables ref l ec t ing v iews ofothers af ter high-confl ict interact ions. As predicted, preoccupiedindiv idual s expressed h igher es teem for the i r par tners fo l lowinghigh-conf l i c t in te rac t ions than d id e i ther secure indiv idual s , F( l ,50) = 3 .40 , p < .05, or fear fu l -avoidant indiv idual s , F( l , 50)= 8.94, p < .01. Similarly, preoc cupie d part icipan ts reporte d

Figure 3. Mean levels for variables indi cating views of others for high-conflict interactions. Means with different subscripts differed signifi-cantly, p < .05 . S = secure; F = fearful-avoidant; P = preoccupied; D= dismissing-avoidant.


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1 4 1 8 P IE T RO M O N A C O A N D F E L D M A N B A R RE T Ts t y l e s a s a n u p p e r l e v e l p r e d i c to r , a n d t h e i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e nt h e t w o a s a p r e d i c t o r . N o t e t h a t t h e l o w e r l e v e l p r e d i c to r , c o n f l i c tr a t i n g s , v a r i e d w i t h i n s u b j e c t s . T h e e f f e c t f o r c o n f l i c t r a t i n g si n d i c a t e d t h e d e g r e e o f a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n l e v e l o f c o n f l i c ta n d e a c h i n t e r a c t i o n r e c o r d v a r i a b l e ( e . g . , b e t w e e n c o n f l i c t a n di n t i m a c y ) . T h e i n t e r a c t i o n t e r m e s t i m a t e d t h e d e g re e t o w h i c ha t t a c h m e n t s t y l e ( i . e ., t h e u p p e r l e v e l p r e d i c t o r ) i n f l u e n c e d t h es i z e o f t h e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n c o n f l i c t r a t i n g s ( i . e . , t h e l o w e rl e v e l p r e d i c t o r ) a n d a p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r a c t i o n r e c o r d v a r i a b l e ( i . e . ,t h e l o w e r l e v e l c r i t e r i o n ) . T h u s , t h e i n t e r a c t i o n i n d i c a t e dw h e t h e r t h e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n c o n f l i ct r a t in g s a n d a n i n t e r a c -t i o n r e c o r d v a r i a b l e ( e . g ., i n t i m a c y ) w a s s t r o n g er f o r s o m e a t -t a c h m e n t s t y l e s t h a n f o r o t h e rs ; a s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n m e a n st h a t a t t a c h m e n t s t y le e x p l a i n s s o m e o f t h e v a r i a t i o n i n th e m a g n i -t u d e o f t h e a s s o c i a t i o n a c r o s s s u b j e c t s . W e f i r s t c e n t e r e d t h ec o n f l i c t r a t i n g s a r o u n d t h e g r a n d m e a n b e f o r e e n t e r i n g t h e m i n t ot h e r e g r e s s i o n e q u a t i o n s , a s r e c o m m e n d e d b y A i k e n a n d W e s t( 1 9 91 ) . W e e s t i m a t e d t h e d e g r e e o f r a n d o m v a r i a t i o n ( a ) a c r o s sp a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e m e a n o f t h e c r i t e r i o n v a r i a b l e ( e .g . , i n t i m a c y )a n d ( b ) i n t h e e f f e c t o f t h e l o w e r l e v e l p r e d i c t o r o n t h e l o w e rl e v e l c r i t e r i o n ( e . g . , t h e e f f e c t o f c o n f l i c t o n i n t i m a c y a s i n d i -c a t e d b y t h e r e g r e s s i o n s l o p e ) . T h e s e t e r m s p r o v i d e d e r r o r e s t i -m a t e s f o r t e s t s o f t h e e f f e c t o f a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s o n t h e s l o p e s( i . e . , r e g r e s s i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r t h e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n c o n f l i c ta n d e a c h i n t e r a c t i o n v a r i a b l e ) a n d i n t e r c e p t s ( i . e ., m e a n l e v e l sh o l d i n g c o n s t a n t t h e l e v e l o f c o n f l i c t ; K e n n y & B o l g e r , 1 9 9 6 ;K e n n y e t a l. , 1 9 9 7 ) . A s i n t h e p r e v i o u s a n a l y s e s , w e a g a i np e r f o r m e d a s e r ie s o f r e g r e s s i o n s i n c l u d i n g a lt e r n a te d u m m yv a r i a b l e s fo r a t t a c h m e n t t o a l l o w f o r c o m p a r i s o n s b e t w e e n t h es e c u r e a n d i n s e c u r e g r o u p s a n d a m o n g t h e i n s e c u r e g r o u p s .

T a b l e 3 s h o w s t h e r e g r e s s i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s ( s l o p e s ) , w h i c he s t i m a t e t h e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n l e v e l o f c o n f l i c t a n d e a c h o ft h e i n t e r a c t i o n r e c o r d m e a s u r e s f o r e a c h a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p . T h es l o p e s o f t h e p r e o c c u p i e d g r o u p d i f f er e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y f r o m t h o s e

o f t h e d i s m i s s i n g - a v o i d a n t , f e a r f u l - a v o i d a n t , o r s e c u r e g r o u po n t h e m a j o r i t y o f v a r i a b l e s , s u p p o r t i n g t h e p r e d i c t i o n t h a t t h ep a t t e rn s w o u l d v a r y a s a f u n c t i o n o f c o n f l i c t . P r e o c c u p i e d i n d i -v i d u a l s a l s o r e p o r t e d m o r e i n t i m a c y , s e l f - d i s c l o s u r e , s a t i s f a c -t i o n , a n d p a r t n e r d i s c l o s u r e a t h i g h e r l e v e l s o f c o n f l i c t , i n c o n -t r a s t t o t h o s e i n o t h e r g r o u p s w h o s h o w e d e i t h e r n o a s s o c i a t i o no r a n e g a t i v e a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n l e v e l o f c o n f l i c t a n d t h e i rr e p o r ts o n t h e s e v a r i a b l e s . I n a d d i t i o n , p r e o c c u p i e d i n d i v i d u a l ss h o w e d l e s s o f a d e c l i n e i n p o s i t i v e e m o t i o n , e s t e e m f o r s e l f ,e s t e e m f o r p a r tn e r s , a n d p e r c e p t i o n s o f t h e p a r t n e r s ' e x p r e s s i o n so f p o s i t i v e e m o t i o n a t h i g h e r l e v e l s o f c o n f l i c t t h a n d i d i n d i v i d u -a l s i n t h e o t h e r a t t a c h m e n t g r o u p s .

T a b l e 3 a l s o s h o w s t h e i n t e r c e p t s , o r m e a n l e v e l s , w h i c h a r es i m i l a r t o t h e m e a n l e v e l s a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s . T h e m e a nl e v e l s d i f f e r s l i g h t l y f r o m t h o s e a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s ( s e e T a b l e2 ) b e c a u s e l e v e l o f c o n f l i c t w a s h e l d c o n s t a n t ( i . e ., a t i ts m e a n ,w h i c h w a s s e t t o z e r o ) i n t h e s e a n a l y s e s , b u t th e p a t t e r n s p a r a l l e lt h o s e a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s ,

I n t e r a c t io n s w i t h c l o se p a r t n e r s . Th e p r e d i c t i o n t h a ts t r o n g e r a t ta c h m e n t d i f f e r e n c e s w o u l d e m e r g e i n c l o s e r r e l a t i o n -s h i p s w a s n o t c o n f i r m e d . W e e x a m i n e d t h e p a t t e rn s f o r r e l a t i o n -s h i p s t h a t w e r e r a t e d a s c l o s e ( i . e . , r a t e d 6 o r 7 o n t h e 7 - p o i n ts c a l e a d m i n i s t e r e d d u r i n g t h e f i n a l i n t e r v i e w ) . F o r t h e m o s t p a r t ,t h e f i n d i n g s ( b a s e d o n 1 , 13 3 i n t e r a c t i o n s fr o m 7 0 p a r t i c i p a n t s )p a r a l l e l e d t h o s e f o u n d a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s : ( a ) F e a r f u l - a v o i d -a n t i n d i v i d u a l s re p o r t e d h i g h e r s a t i s f a ct i o n t h a n d i d d i s m i s s i n g -a v o i d a n t , F ( 1 , 6 6 ) = 1 1 . 0 4 , p < . 0 1 , p r e o c c u p i e d , F ( 1, 6 6 ) =6 . 4 4 , p < . 0 3 , o r s e c u r e i n d i v i d u a l s , F ( 1 , 6 6 ) = 4 . 2 4 , p < . 0 5 .I n d i v i d u a l s w h o h e l d d i f f e r e n t a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e s d i d n o t d i f f e ri n t h e i r r a t in g s o f i n t i m a c y o r s e l f - d i s c l o s u r e i n t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n sw i t h c l o s e o t h e r s - - u n l i k e t h e a n a l y s e s a c r o s s a l l i n t e r a c t i o n s - -p r o b a b l y b e c a u s e m o s t i n d i v i d u a l s f e e l m o r e i n t i m a t e a n d d i s -c l o s e m o r e i n t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h c l o s e o t h e r s ; ( b ) f e a r f u l -a v o i d a n t i n d i v i d u a l s e v i d e n c e d t h e m o s t p o s i t iv e e m o t i o n a n d

T a b l e 3As s o c i a t i o n s Be t w e e n C o n f l i c t a n d O t h e r I n t e r a c ti o n Re c o r d Va r i ab l e s b y A t t a c h m e n t C a t e g o r y : S l o p e a n d I n t e r c e p t D i f f e re n c e sAttachment category: Regression coefficients (slopes) Attachment category: Intercepts

Fearful- Dismissing- Fearful- Dismissing-Measure Secure avoid ant Preoccupied avoida nt Secure avoid ant Preoccupied avoidantInteraction qualityIntim acy .0lab .06ab .14, -. 10 b 2.71,8 3.09a 3.04~ 2.588Self-disclo sure .02a .04a, .218 .02. 3.01, 3.07. 3.20. 2.88aSatisfaction -.37a - - . 4 4 a - - . 1 4 b - - . 4 4 a 3.55a 3.89 3.53~ 3.36~Em otional reactionsPositive em otion -. 32 , -.29 ~ --.13b --.33a 2.93a~ 3.218 2.77a 2 . 8 0 aNega tive em oti on .25a .32, .28. .35a 1.39a 1.60,o~ 1.55a8 1.668Views of selfSelf-esteem -.19ab -.24 ~ -.09 ~ -. 29 . 4.58a 4.42a~, 4.15b 4.38~ tViews of othersEsteem for partners - .2 9. - .3 7, -- .00b -- .29, 4.51. 4.47~, 4.218 4.37~Partners' disclosure . 0 3a b . 1 3 ~ , 1 5 a - - . 0 5 b 3.11~ 3.29~ 3.39~ 3.14,Partners ' positive emotion - .3 6, - - .2 2 a 8 - - . 1 0 b - - , 3 0 a 3.45~b 3.73 , 3.508 3.308Pa rtn ers ' negative em otio n .44, .44,b .288t .42~8 1 .94,b 1.79~ 2.06~b 2.11 bN o t e . Analyses were base d on 2,268 observations fro m 70 participants, dfs = 1, 66. With in rows, slopes (or intercepts) withdiffered significantly, p < .05, except as note d below.t Com parisons with this slope or intercept differed marginally from those with different subscripts, p < . 10.

different subscripts


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ATI'ACHMENT AND DALLY INTERACTIONS 1419differed significant ly from preoccupied individua ls, F( 1, 66) =4.41, p < .05; (c) dismissing-avoidant ndividua ls evidencedmore negative emotion than did secure individuals, F( 1, 66) =3.99, p < .05; and (d) preoccupied individua ls, compared withsecure individuals, showed lower esteem for themselves, F( 1,66) = 19.07, p < .001, and marginally lower esteem for theirpartners, F(1 , 66) = 3.49, p < .10.We examined the possibility that the strongest attachmentdifferences would emerge for interactions with romantic part-ners, who are most likely to serve as attachment figures (Ha-zan & Shaver, 1994). Analyses examining only interactions withdating partners did not reveal any effects that were stronger ordifferent than those for all close partners. Unfortunately, thepower of these analyses to detect differences was limited by thesmaller sample size (n = 41 participants); although the patternsparalleled those across all close relationships, most of the differ-ences were not statistically significant.

We also performed multilevel analyses includi ng he full rangeof closeness ratings (i.e., 1 -7 ) as a predictor. These analyses(based on 2,272 interactions for 70 participants) followed thesame procedure described above for those using conflict as apredictor. The associa tions between closeness and the interactionrecord variables varied significantlyby attachment style for onlytwo variables: self-disclosure and partner disclosure. Overall,individuals reported more self-disclosure with closer partners(regression coefficients = .21, .24, .19, .12, for secure, fearful-avoidant, preoccupied, and dismissing-avoidantgroups, respec-tively), but the association between closeness and self-disclo-sure for dismissing-avoidant ndividuals was significantly (p

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Working Models of Attachment and Daily Social Interactions

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